South Ferry was a ferry landing on the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

side of the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue below the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. It is now Piers 5 and 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

History

The name "South Ferry" does not derive from serving the southern tip of Manhattan and what was then known as " South Brooklyn", it was the name of one of the ferries between what were then the separate cities of New York and

. The "Old Ferry", which later was renamed the " Fulton Ferry", crossed between Manhattan and Brooklyn from streets that in each city would eventually be renamed "Fulton Street". The "New Ferry" crossed further east, between Catherine Street in Manhattan, and Main Street in Brooklyn. As the

City of Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

grew, the area south of Atlantic Avenue (known as " South Brooklyn") began to become built-up, but lacked easy access to the ferry terminals in the northern parts of the city of Brooklyn. Thus, the South Ferry Company established the South Ferry on May 16, 1836, to connect

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

to the foot of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and the month-old Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad – later the Atlantic Avenue Railroad's streetcar line, and later still part of the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

, now called the Atlantic Branch – through the Cobble Hill Tunnel. " South Ferry" is still the name of the area of lower Manhattan where the ferry's landing was, and was also the name of the Brooklyn landing and ferry house, although the name is no longer in use. The Fulton Ferry Company, which then operated only the Fulton Ferry, merged with the South Ferry Company in 1839 to form the New York and Brooklyn Union Ferry Company. In the 20th and early 21st centuries, the site served cargo as Brooklyn Piers 5 and 6, which are now part of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

References

{{coord, 40, 41, 31.6, N, 74, 0, 4.2, W, display=title Transportation in Brooklyn Piers in New York City

History

See also

References